NPR Censors Movie Review that Mentions Outed Politicians

In a move that has inflamed observers, NPR decided to redact the names of politicians in its review of Outrage, a new documentary that names names of anti-gay politicians who are rumored to be closeted themselves.

The documentary opened last weekend and has stirred anger only mildly, probably because its two biggest subjects—Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida and former Sen. Larry Craig—hit the tabloids long before the movie was released. But NPR, citing internal policy, removed the names from a review by critic Nathan Lee, who subsequently protested by having his byline removed from the review.

When the review was published, Lee posted a comment to explain his protest, which was then removed from the site by an NPR editor because it mentioned the names that had been edited out of the review. “I took my name off the review as a matter of principle both as a journalist and an out gay man,” Lee later told indieWIRE about the incident. “Readers of the review should know the reason WHY the name has been redacted, which NPR is not allowing me to do on the comment section, and has made unclear in the disclaimer amended to the review.”

Before long, protests popped up online that pointed out that NPR previously published speculation about the sexualities of an American Idol contestant and Queen Latifah, despite the fact that they have never come out in public.

Still, NPR has said that they don’t publish speculation about public figures unless “there is a compelling reason to do so.” An NPR rep also told Romenesko on Wednesday that the situation has been misconstrued. “NPR sent Nathan Lee the edited text of his review prior to publication, and he agreed to the edits,” she said.  

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